Multiwatcher

The Multiwatcher screen offers a user-friendly and configurable view of several cameras that is actually running on one camera only. This approach allows accessing one camera using a DynDNS-capable router, for example, to see all other cameras behind the router/firewall.

The cameras are displayed in a table layout, with one camera occupying one column. Each column consists of four rows, which display the following for each camera (top to bottom):

Name of the camera

Preview image of the live image

The last stored alarm image as preview image

An alarm list with the last alarm that triggered an alarm recording

When you are accessing one of the displayed cameras, the camera is actually accessed by the camera running the Multiwatcher (proxy camera). This is always the camera that is running the Multiwatcher. The Multiwatcher screen on the proxy camera hence even works if the corresponding camera is running in a network behind a firewall or router. The only requirement is that the proxy camera has to be accessible from the outside, i.e. the firewall has to be configured accordingly. Once this has been set up, you can access the camera from the outside and from within the network, since the proxy camera collects the live and alarm images from the other internal cameras.

It is also possible to store authentication information (user name and password) for each camera in the proxy camera, allowing you to show password-protected cameras without entering the required passwords every time you open the Multiwatcher screen. A one-time authentication of the user at the proxy camera when accessing the Multiwatcher screen is sufficient.

Note: Make sure that Zeroconf has been activated on all cameras (Ethernet Interface >Zeroconf), since the proxy camera uses this method to find all available cameras. For additional information on Zeroconf, open the The Ethernet Interface help page.

Information on the Screen

The Live Image

The live image of each camera is shown as preview image (160x120 pixels) and is updated periodically. You can select the update interval in the Multiwatcher Configuration dialog. Click on the image to see the image in its original size in a separate window.

The Last Stored Alarm Image

The last stored alarm of each camera is shown as preview image (160x120 pixels). Click on the image to see the alarm image in its original size in a separate window.

When an initial alarm occurs (i.e. an alarm that triggers a recording), the camera automatically updates the image.

Note: If an event occurs that has been activated in the Recording dialog in the Start Recording list and in the Retrigger Recording or the Stop Recording list, the camera will not trigger a new recording. Such an event will not trigger an initial alarm and will hence not appear in the alarm list.

The Alarm List

The alarm list contains all information on the latest alarm images that have been recorded by an initial alarm. Clicking on an entry in the list displays the alarm image in its original size in a separate window.

The camera automatically updates the list every time it detects an initial alarm. New list entries are briefly shown in red. If you have activated the Notification in the Multiwatcher Configuration dialog, the alarm will stay red until the user acknowledges the alarm by clicking on it.

If Audio Notification has been activated (button reads On) and the browser supports sounds, the camera will play an alarm sound. To deactivate the feature temporarily, click on the button On (the button changes to Off).

Configuring Multiwatcher Screens

You can define several Multiwatcher screens with different cameras, with each page showing a different set of cameras. To change between screens, select a different Multiwatcher screen in the Screen dropdown box.

If you would like to configure the current screen, open the corresponding configuration dialog by clicking on the Configure Screen link.

After changing a Multiwatcher screen, the Store button appears beneath the alarm list. Click on this button to permanently store the entire configuration in the camera's Flash memory.

More Features

Setting the Screen as Start Page

The Language and Start Page dialog allows setting the Multiwatcher as Start Page. This page will be displayed automatically when a browser connects to the camera.

Playing Sounds on Alarms

If the ActiveX control is used to display the camera's live and event images (only Internet Explorer on Windows), the plugin will automatically play a sound if one of the cameras in a MultiView layout has detected an event. Clicking on the corresponding button will deactivate or activate this feature.

Stopping the Multiwatcher Screen

The Stop button stops the camera process that updates the camera images. To restart the Multiwatcher screen, simply click on the Start button.

Storing the Configuration

If you have changed the Multiwatcher screen in the Multiwatcher Configuration dialog, you can store the entire configuration of the camera by clicking on the Store button.